Visually Romero is back in a fashion that we have not seen in years. Gone is the flashy, Hollywood gloss that he attempted in Land and back is the gritty, real life feel that made his earlier work wonderful.

Diary tells the tale of the dead returning to life as seen through the eyes of a group of college kids who are out filming a schlocky horror film on the night that the dead begin to rise. Much as he did in Night no real explanation is given for why it's happening but rather everyone reacting to the current situation that they find themselves in. Shot in now what has become known as the “Cloverfield” style of film making but what it is really is just a POV film that actually succeeds in putting a much needed new spin on a tired and over used zombie genre. Not that the film is perfect, far from it I'm afraid.

The dialog is barely tolerable at times and some of Romero's much applauded “political viewpoints“ this time comes across as preachy and unfortunately silly. The biggest groan for me is a series of lines that takes place when a character hands off a handgun to someone else and states “take this, it's to easy to use” and then a few moments later we have another character repeating the same line while handing off a video camera. A little heavy handed for my liking and for a man that makes his living with a camera it seems a bit of an odd stance to have.

The use of “no name” talent this time around kind of hurts the film a little. While the principle characters are sufficiently portrayed there are a series of periphery folks that are really pretty graon-able. The good news though is that the visual touch of Romero makes all the rest of this seem pretty unimportant.

I love the look of this film and I really love some of the new and improved ways that the zombies interact (for the lack of a better word) with the living. With the technology age comes a whole new way to look at the zombie outbreak and Romero and Co. exploit this fact to the point of almost being redundant.

In the end by going back to his roots Romero has discovered a way to bring into the fold a whole new generation that can witness how horror can be used to not only entertain but also to editorialize and provoke thought and discussion.

On a technical note, the special effects are top notch and the blood flows freely and deeply. GAR never allows the camera to flinch and we witness the outbreak in all its gory goodness.  I really do wish that it could have been worked out and Savini could have been involved in the project but even without that special Savini touch the film still holds up quite well in the blood and guts category.

In the end I came away from the film thankful that Romero has redeemed himself from the Land of the Dead debacle and seems to be set on a path that might allow him to pump out a couple more films and keep his take on the zombie lore alive and kicking.